Former Kampala Capital City Mayor and a leading businessman Al Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala is dead.
Sebaggala who was born in 1947 died at International Hospital Kampala on Saturday September 26.
He was 72.
Parliament Imam and his brother Latif Ssebagala confirmed the death of Al-Haji Ssebagala.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the elderly politician’s health deteriorated on Thursday evening at IHK where he had remained hospitalized for the last few weeks.
His condition worsened so much that he had to be put on life support, sources said.
A former Kampala Lord Mayor, Ssebagala’s vast political experience saw him serve as Senior Presidential advisor, a position he resigned recently.
In 1998, Ssebagala began his political career by running for the position of Mayor of Kampala.
Following the expulsion of Asians by the then president Idi Amin in 1972, Ssebagala acquired New Fabricano shop along Kampala road in Kampala City. His business interests grew over time and in 1998, he began his political career by running for the position of mayor of Kampala. Ostensibly a member of the Democratic Party, Ssebagala won the first direct elections for mayor of Kampala in 1998, beating two government-sponsored candidates.
However, two months later, he was arrested in the United States on eight counts of fraud and lying to U.S. customs officials.
In February 1999, he received a 15-month sentence but was paroled in December 1999. He returned to Kampala in February 2000 to a warm welcome and considered a bid in the 2001 presidential elections.
In mid-December 2005, he broke with the Democratic Party (DP), after he came third in the party presidential primaries, which was won by Ssebaana Kizito, and registered himself as an independent. A week later, he reversed himself, withdrawing his candidacy and announcing his support for Kizito. When he lost the Democratic Party nominations to Mr Norbert Mao in 2010, he quit the DP and formed his own party.
Renews interest for Kampala Mayoral race on NUP ticket
Before his death, Ssebagala had expressed interest in contesting for Kampala Lord Mayor seat in the 2021 general election.
He had said he would challenge the current Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on the National Unity Platform (NUP) led by Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine.
